Ways to Choose The Best Low-code Platform Vendor
Low code platforms are not just about ease of use and development speed. It should also ensure a secure development and deployment that offers high flexibility with good industry standards. Not just the IT folks or the coding experts, even non-IT resources or product owners with business knowledge should be able to make meaningful contributions with these platforms’ moderated tools. Here are some of the key considerations to make before choosing a low-code platform vendor.
Empowering Citizen Developers –
Citizen developers or functional managers of different lines of business are crucial to your business as they understand the application and customer’s needs better. A good low-code platform should empower such users with efficient visual modeling and allow collaborations with professional developers. This can improve user experience beyond imagination.
Customization Capabilities –
Low-code platforms provide ready-made templates and drag-and-drop interfaces that save time and effort, but the real effectiveness depends on their ability to customize and adapt. It should allow:
- Deeper customizations using custom methods and extensions
- Integration of custom business logic
- Modification of auto-generated & predefined codes
- Building applications on one platform and extending their usage on a custom Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of your choice.
Pricing Models –
The business models of low-code platforms vary from charging monthly/ yearly per 1 to 100 users to charging per application. Some platforms charge based on the development scale and usage metrics. Make sure the platform’s pricing is future-proof by being within your budget, meeting your requirements and allowing scalability.
Third-party Integrations –
An ideal platform is one that allows custom integrations ensuring an independent application. It should enable easy integration with external enterprise systems, APIs, Cloud, or databases. Standalone applications are expensive and inflexible; it is extremely important that the platform makes it easy to create, share and consume APIs, the building blocks of modern applications.
Visual Interface –
Visual modeling plays a key role in envisioning the application’s final look and feel. The platform should have simple user interfaces that help non-developers easily use the tools and visual models to create custom applications.
Device Compatibility –
A platform that supports multi-device deployment is extremely important to reduce rework and reach more users. This is a very crucial feature that ensures your application’s accessibility across devices and browsers.
Use case Driven –
Traditional or low-code, an application development should be completely use case driven. Low-code platforms come with different capabilities and techniques. To make application deployment easier and ensure customizations, understand the platform’s strengths and shortcomings. Create a well-researched set of use cases, requirements, and user expectations and evaluate against the platform’s capabilities to make the app development process smoother.
Low-Cost Approach -
Low-code enables individuals and businesses to improve their IT processes and operations while keeping the CapEx and OpEx expenses low. It results in a cost-effective approach by radically cutting down on new resources, R&D, software and tools.
Real-Time Analysis -
Building data and analytics is simpler with low-code. It comes with advanced machine learning solutions and automated components that allow citizen developers and functional managers to create predictive real-time analytics and custom reports.
- Some best-to-have capabilities of a low-code platform:
- Configurable settings & tools
- Scalable & customizable predefined templates
- Offline app support
- Flexible On-premise & cloud deployment
- Continuous technical support
